LEC’s Catchment Change Network provides early-stage platform for national strategy development
The first CCN stakeholder workshop on Uncertainty and Flood Mapping was held at the Sheffield Cathedral and brought together around 30 delegates including the Environment Agency, consultancy firms, local authorities, graduate students, CCN staff and the Flood Risk Management Research Consortium.
The aim of the workshops was to start work on a guide to best practice to be used in incorporating uncertainty into flood risk mapping. The workshop was organised by Keith Beven, Ruth Alcock, Dave Leedal and Simon McCarthy (Middlesex University). Ruth Alcock explains “Our next steps will be to produce a full report on the discussion and from that develop a guidance document to form the basis for development over the next year. The workshop highlighted that there’s a need to be explicit about uncertainty when you’re estimating flood outlines, but how best to do this, represent confidence in the data and communicate the issues needs guidance.”
CCN has also co-ordinated a successful workshop on water quality and diffuse pollution held at the Lancaster Environment Centre in December 2009. The aim was similar, to define and develop guidance and best practice for diffuse pollution in the future. Water management is facing major challenges in terms of predicting catchment responses associated with an uncertain future in terms of a combination of climate changes, land management change across both rural and urban areas and socio-economic drivers.
The workshop was organised by Kieran Conlon from Cascade Consulting Ltd alongside Ruth Alcock and Phil Haygarth from LEC. Phil Haygarth, Professor of Water Science at Lancaster University explains “Diffuse pollution is a key focus for the CCN, it needs simple but innovative national strategies to be developed based on existing local scale best practice. The workshop provides a platform where researchers and practitioners can come together to generate knowledge, exchange ideas and make a real difference.”
Reports from these workshops will be published shortly.
For more information on these workshops and future events contact Ruth Alcock on 01524 510285 or visit the Catchment Change Network website.
